Paul J. Levine

I have never had the pleasure of reading a Paul Levine book before, but Illegal and Jimmy Payne have made me a fan!

Jimmy Payne is one of those characters who really isn't all that likeable, and yet, I find myself liking him. He's gone through some rough times, he can be sarcastic and has a smart reply for most situations, but under all that bluster he really is a nice guy.

Tino, the boy that Jimmy is helping, is a funny kid. He's scrappy and street smart, and he curses quite a bit, but it's show more usually in Spanish. I think I enjoyed this character so much because he reminded me of my brothers at that age.

The other thing I really liked about this book is that it isn't your typical mystery. There aren't bodies piling up with cops looking for the killer. In Illegal, you pretty much know what is going on throughout the book, but that doesn't take away from the suspense at all. The book also centers around a political hot topic and I think that also adds another great element to the story. No matter which side you come in on, you will be able to find a character that shares your views.

Illegal is a great start to a new series and can't wait to see what trouble Jimmy Payne gets himself into next. show less

Roasted quail marinara. That's what Steve Solomon's nephew called a road kill sparrow drenched in tomato sauce and microwaved for 60 minutes. Steve was late getting home and his nephew announced dinner was ready. It was easier to throw out the microwave rather than clean it. Now I think that's funny, but I have a bizarre sense of humor.

"When the law doesn't work, work the law." That's Steve's motto. His legal style could have been described as throwing a grenade into a septic tank. But he show more has to keep the cases coming to pay for the care of his nephew, an idiot savant with a photographic memory but no social skills.

What makes this book really charming,‭ ‬aside from the ribaldry and word-play between Solomon and Lord,‭ ‬is the relationship between Bobby and Solomon who really loves his autistic-savant nephew.‭ ‬Bobby has a photographic memory and the ability to find patterns and relationships in words and symbols,‭ ‬a skill that inevitably and predictably helps to break open the case for the two sparring partners.‭ ‬That inevitability doesn't ruin things,‭ ‬it just heightens the anticipation of how it will come about.

A side plot involves Solomon's sister Janice,‭ ‬a deadbeat,‭ ‬who is attempting to get custody of Bobby and a suitably evil psychiatrist who wants Bobby institutionalized for her own medical experiments.‭

This book was just a lot of plain fun. show less

I have always enjoyed Paul Levine’s books. They crackle with self-deprecating humor as well as provide a good legal drama/mystery. I haven’t read many of his Lassiter series, having concentrated on the Solomon/Lord series. Kip, who is constantly making reference to scenes and characters from movies, resembles his autistic nephew in his other series. A touch of humor never hurts.

Jake Lassiter is an ex-Miami Dolphin, a linebacker known mostly for the time when he recovered a fumble and show more then ran the wrong way having to be tackled by his teammates before disaster ensued. On another occasion he blocked an extra point attempt with his helmet. the ball getting stuck in his face mask. He wanted it considered a touchdown, but the refs ruled it a safety; it took two weeks to get the ball out of his helmet.

One night sitting at a bar with a friend, a blonde walks in and shoots and kills the man sitting on the next bar stool. Turns out the dead man was her father and Lassiter agrees to represent Chrissy Bernhardt.

Lassiter has a strict code of ethics: he won’t permit his clients or himself to lie. “I remembered what a writer once said about another lawyer, the disgraced and now deceased Roy Cohn: ‘He only lies under oath.’ Well, why not? That's when it counts.”

He represents all sorts of interesting, if sleezy, characters who often return the favor by helping him on his other cases. Roberto Condom was represented on a charge of smuggling dope in the intestines of boa constrictors. “When the constipated and ornery snakes were discovered by Customs, Roberto was charged with drug importation as well as cruelty to animals. Roberto showed up for trial with Bozo, his pet six-foot boa, curled around his neck, pleading that he loved snakes and would never do such a thing. The jury was out only twenty minutes, and Roberto walked. At Christmas, I was rewarded with a snakeskin jacket that looked familiar, but it took me three months to figure out that I hadn't seen Bozo in a while.”

Occasionally, Levine meanders off into making some kind of political observation. For example, I am not an environmental nut, believing in moderation in all things except consumption of Dutch beer. I am more pained by an inner-city child without a home than a heron without a nest. I don't understand people who treat a man sleeping in a cardboard box as if he were invisible but race across the street to curse at a woman wearing a fur. Sorry, but I care more about people than minks, which I always considered uptown rats. At the same time, I am opposed to fat-cat business-industrial types, such as a certain rotund, cigar-smoking radio host who calls people like Baker "environmental Nazis." There is a balancing to be done between the needs of a growing populace and the preservation of the wild. If I had to choose between Baker and those who would pave the wetlands, drill for oil on the reefs, and ravage the forests, count me with the tree huggers. Now while I might totally agree with him, it seems oddly placed and even though the story does have something to do with water rights, could have been more effectively integrated into the story.

Levine must have a rather jaundiced view of the legal system: Clients are customers, referral fees are kickbacks, experts are whores, and bondsmen are bloodsuckers. Client development is ambulance chasing. Pro bono work means getting stiffed for a fee. A retainer means "pay me now for work I may or may not do later." Lawyers' hourly bills are exercises in creative writing, in which our clients pay not only for our time but also for expensive lunches and dinners and the time we spend deciding what to order. Our "research time" often gets us paid to learn what we should have known or to relearn what we have forgotten.

In order to avoid any possibility of spoilers let me just say this one is fascinating with allegations of false memory, the possibility of implanted memory, a daughter killing her father, a trial with no question of the client’s guilt, a psychiatrist in love with the dead man’s wife, an uncle who wants his niece convicted, and a lawyer sleeping with his client.

Good story with page-turning trial dialogue. show less

I enjoyed this book very much. The setting around a lawyer grieving over his son's death and an illegal child immigrant he assists in finding his mother is very compelling. The story is well written and plausible. It gives you a new outlook on illegal immigration. I am still opposed to illegal immigration, but you realize it is not only the immigrants that are part of the problem.